CHAPTER 2

DETERMINANTS
 CONTENTS

2.1. Introduction to Determinants

2.2. Properties of the Determinants

2.3. Cramer’s Rule

2.1. INTRODUCTION
TO DETERMINANTS
 a b 
Definition. Let A be a 2  2 matrix  
c d 
then the determinant of A, det A = ad – bc .

For any square matrix A, let Aij denote the submatrix

formed by deleting the ith row and jth column of A.

For n > 2, the determinant of an 𝑛 × 𝑛 matrix A = [aij] is

n
det A =  (−1)1+ j a1 j det A1 j
j =1

= a11 det A11 − a12 det A12 + + (−1)1+ n a1n det A1n
Example. Compute the determinant of
1 5 0

A =  2 4 −1 
 0 −2 0 
Solution.

det A = a11 det A11 − a12 det A12 + a13 det A13

 4 −1  2 −1 2 4 
= 1  det   − 5  det   + 0  det  
 −2 0   0 0   0 −2 

= 1( 0 – 2 ) – 5 ( 0 – 0 ) + 0 ( −4 – 0 ) = − 2
Another common notation for the determinant of a matrix
uses a pair of vertical lines in place of brackets.
Thus the calculation in Example 1 can be written as

4 −1 2 −1 2 4
det A = 1  − 5 +0  = −2
−2 0 0 0 0 −2

To state the next theorem, it is convenient to write the

definition of det A in a slightly different form.
Given A = [aij], the (i, j)-cofactor of A is the number Cij
given by
i+ j
Cij = (−1) det Aij
Then
det A = a11C11 + a12C12 + + a1nC1n

This formula is called a cofactor expansion across the

first row of A.

Theorem 1. The determinant of an 𝑛 × 𝑛 matrix A can be

computed by a cofactor across any row or down any
column.
The cofactor expansion across the ith row is
det A = ai1Ci1 + ai 2Ci 2 + + ainCin
The cofactor expansion down the jth column is
det A = a1 j C1 j + a2 j C2 j + + anj Cnj
Example. Use a cofactor expansion across the third row
to compute det A, where
1 5 0
𝐴 = 2 4 −1
0 −2 0
Solution. Compute
det A = a31C31 + a32C32 + a33C33

= a31 (−1)3+1 det A31 + a32 (−1)3+ 2 det A32 + a33 (−1)3+3 det A33
5 0 1 0 1 5
= 0 −(−2)  + 0
4 −1 2 −1 2 4
= −2
Example. Compute det A if

 3 −2 7 2 1
0 2 2 1 8
 
A = 0 0 1 5 0
0 0 2 4 1

0 0 0 −2 0 

Result: detA=12

Theorem 2. If A is a triangular matrix, then det A is the

product of the entries on the main diagonal of A.
Example. Compute

−3 0 0 0 2 7 −3 8 3
2 −2 0 0 0 −3 7 5 1
5 2 4 0 0 0 1 7 6
10 1 −1 5 0 0 0 2 8
0 0 0 0 4

10
2.2. PROPERTIES
OF DETERMINANTS
Theorem 3. Let A be a square matrix
➢ If two rows of A are interchanged to produce B, then
det B = - det A.
➢ If one row of A is multiplied by k to produce B, then
det B = k · det A
➢ If a multiple of one row of A is added to another row
to produce a matrix B, then det B = det A.
➢ If row ith of A is the sum of r' and r", and B' and B"
are obtained from A by replacing row ith by r' and r"
respectively, then
det(A) = det(B' ) + det(B" )
 1 −4 2
Example. Compute det A, where 𝐴 = −2 8 −9
−1 7 0
Solution. The strategy is to reduce A to echelon form and
then to use the fact that the determinant of a triangular
matrix is the product of the diagonal entries.

1 −4 2 1 −4 2 1 −4 2
−2 8 −9 = 0 0 −5 = 0 0 −5
−1 7 0 −1 7 0 0 3 2
An interchange of rows 2 and 3 reverses the sign of the
determinant, so
1 −4 2
𝑑𝑒𝑡𝐴 = − 0 3 2 = − 1 3 −5 = 15
0 0 −5
Example. Using row reduction to evaluate

3 5 -2 6
0 1 5
1 2 -1 1
3 -6 9 2 4 1 5
2 6 1 3 7 5 3

1 2 3 1 1
4 1 3 2 3 

 2 1 −3 1 3
 
1 3 1 2 2
 3 −2 4 3 2 
➢ Suppose a square matrix A has been reduced to an echelon
form U by row replacements and row interchanges
➢ If there are r interchanges, then Theorem 3 shows that
det A = (-1)r det U
➢ Since U is in echelon form, it’s triangular, and so det U is
the product of the diagonal entries u11, …, unn.
➢ If A is invertible, the entries uii are all pivots
• Because A ~ In
• det A = (-1)r (product of pivots in U)
➢ Otherwise, at least uii is zero, and the product u11…unn is
zero
 Theorem 4. A square matrix A is invertible if and only if
det A ≠ 0.
Example. Compute det A, where
3 −1 2 −5
0 5 −3 −6
𝐴=
−6 7 −7 4
−5 −8 0 9
Solution. Add 2 times row 1 to row 3 to obtain
3 −1 2 −5
0 5 −3 −6
𝑑𝑒𝑡𝐴 = 𝑑𝑒𝑡 =0
0 5 −3 −6
−5 −8 0 9
because the second and third rows of the second matrix are
equal.
 1 2 −1
Example. Let A =  2 3 1 
 2 3 m 
Find all values of m for which A is invertible.

Solution. We have det A= -m+1.

Because A is invertible if det A ≠ 0. Thus, m ≠ 1
Theorem 5. If A, B are 𝑛 × 𝑛 matrices, then
a) If A has a row of zeros or a column of zeros, then
det(A) = 0
b) det(kA) = kndet(A)
c) det AT = det A.
d) det AB= (det A)(det B).
e) If A is invertible, then
−11
det A =
det A
Example. Let

1 2 −2   2 3 −3
A = 1 2 4  and B = 1 2 −1
 2 3 4   2 3 5 
Compute
a) detA, det B

b) det AT, det(3A), det(AB),

c) det (ATB), det(3AB), det(A3)
2.3. CRAMER’S RULE
For any 𝑛 × 𝑛 matrix A and any b in Rn, let Ai(b) be the
matrix obtained from A by replacing column i by the
vector b:
Ai(b) = [a1 … b … an]

Theorem 7. Let A be an invertible 𝑛 × 𝑛 matrix. For any

b in ℝ𝑛 , the unique solution x of Ax=b has entries given
by
det A1 (b) det A2 (b) det An (b)
x1 = , x2 = , , xn =
det A det A det A
Example. Use Cramer’s rule to solve the system
3𝑥1 − 2𝑥2 = 6
−5𝑥1 + 4𝑥2 = 8

Solution. View the system as Ax = b. Using the notation

introduced above,
3 −2 6 −2 3 6
𝐴= , 𝐴1 𝑏 = , 𝐴2(𝑏) =
−5 4 8 4 −5 8

Since detA = 2, the system has a unique solution. By

Cramer’s rule,
𝑑𝑒𝑡𝐴1(𝑏) 24 + 16
𝑥1 = = = 20
𝑑𝑒𝑡𝐴 2
 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝐴2(𝑏) 24 + 30
𝑥2 = = = 27
𝑑𝑒𝑡𝐴 2

Example. Use Cramer’s rule to solve the system

x1 + + 2 x3 = 6
−3 x1 + 4 x2 + 6 x3 = 30
− x1 − 2 x2 + 3x3 = 8
Solution.
 1 0 2  6 0 2
A =  −3 4 6 , A1 (b) =  30 4 ,
6
   
 − 1 − 2 3   8 −2 
3
 1 6 2  1 0 6 
A2 (b) =  − 3 30 6  , A3 (b) =  − 3 4 30 
   
 −1 8 3  − 1 − 2 8 

det A = 44; det A1 (b) = −40;

det A2 (b) = 72; det A3 (b) =152.

−10 18 38
x1 = , x2 = , x3 =
11 11 11
26
Example. Determine the values of s for which the
following system has a unique solution, and use Cramer’s
rule to describe the solution.

Solution. View the system as Ax = b. Then

Since

the system has a unique solution precisely when s ≠±2.

For such an s, the solution is (x1, x2) where

Recall that the (i, j)-cofactor of A is the number Cij given
by 𝑪𝒊𝒋 = −𝟏 𝒊 + 𝒋 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝑨𝒊𝒋

Definition. The matrix

C11 C12 C1n 
C C 
C2 n 
 21 22
 
 
Cn1 Cn 2 Cnn 

is called the matrix of cofactors from A.

The transpose of this matrix is called the adjugate

(or classical adjoint) of A, denoted by adj A
Theorem 8. Let A be an invertible 𝑛 × 𝑛 matrix. Then
1
A-1= 𝑎𝑑𝑗𝐴
𝑑𝑒𝑡𝐴

Example. Find the inverse of the matrix

2 1 3
𝐴 = 1 −1 1 .
1 4 −2
Solution. The nine cofactors are
−1 1 1 1 1 −1
𝐶11 = + = −2, 𝐶12 = − = 3, 𝐶13 = + =5
4 −2 1 −2 1 4
1 3 2 3 2 1
𝐶21 = − = 14, 𝐶22 = + = −7, 𝐶23 = − = −7
4 −2 1 −2 1 4
1 1 2 3 2 1
𝐶31 = + = 4, 𝐶32 = − = 1, 𝐶33 = + = −3
−1 1 1 1 1 −1
The adjugate matrix is the transpose of the matrix of
cofactors. Thus
−2 14 4
𝑎𝑑𝑗𝐴 = 3 −7 1
5 −7 −3

We compute det A = 14. Then

1 −2 14 4
𝐴−1= 3 −7 1
14
5 −7 −3
−1/7 1 2/7
= 3/14 −1/2 1/14
5/14 −1/2 −3/14
 a b
Corollary. Let A =   . If ad − bc  0, then
c d 
A is invertible and 1  d −b 
A =
−1
 
ad − bc  −c a 

Example. Find A-1 (if it exists) by using determinants

0 2 1 
2 4 A =  2 4 2 
A= 
 5 7   3 4 3 